


Nightmares

by lightspeedrobin



Category: Steam Prison (Visual Novel)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M, Nightmares, Persistent dreams of blood, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spoilers, Triggers, follows adage route good ending, knife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24984298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightspeedrobin/pseuds/lightspeedrobin
Summary: Memories of the past return to haunt Cyrus but Adage helps her cope with the people she lost.
Relationships: Cyrus Tistella/Adage
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Nightmares

Cyrus nearly falls off the bed from waking up abruptly, her breaths labored and skin drenched with sweat despite the cool weather. She places her shaking hand onto her chest in attempt to calm down the loud drumming of her heartbeat.

_There it is again._

She saw them. Her parents’ sliced necks with their face twisted in pain and agony. Limp bodies of Rielith and Merlot left to rot in the back alleys of the sanctuary. Fin’s desperate struggle for survival, to at least tell her how he missed her, only to be shot to death by Glissade’s hand.

She saw them. And they are not going to leave her in peace.

She felt something warm spreading down her feet. She saw blood. The blood of her loved ones staining her feet and the ends of her nightwear. She steps back and away from it, from the bodies of the people who used to call her by her name.

_Cyrus._

They call. The bodies that were once immobile twitched and are now moving closer to her. She wanted them to stay away yet also wanting to embrace them one last time, to at least say goodbye. She was never given the chance to mourn for their deaths, event after event preventing her from achieving the silence she needed to remember them.

She didn’t realize her fist was tightly clenched. Gripping something metal. It was then she realized that she was holding the very knife she found in her hands the morning her parents were murdered.

_It was her fault. If she didn’t challenge Sachsen into a duel, she never would have gotten injured and attracted Glissade’s attention. If she just bit her tongue maybe, just maybe, she would still be living in the heights, in the comfort of her family, with Fin by her side._

_It was her fault, and this suffering is the cruelest punishment she could ever get._

“Cyrus!” She snaps back to reality with a shout of her name and a hard squeeze on her shoulders. She hadn’t realized she’d been gasping for air and her eyes hot with tears. “Come back to me. Please.” The voice pleaded. She blinks away her tears to see the love of her life in the brink of tears.

“…Adage?” His name slipped from her still uneven breathing but it was enough to let him know that she is back. Adage’s lips tug into a small smile before pulling her in for a tight hug. He rubs circles on her back while her breathing gradually calms.

They stay like that for a while. Cyrus’s silent cries muffled by his firm chest, while he whispers reassuring words as if it were a spell to make her suffering go away. “Shh, I’m here. I’m not gonna leave you.”

When her sobs come to a stop, he presses a kiss on the top of her head before gently lifting her head up to kiss her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Tired eyes meet his as she responds with a nod.

He picks up a towel from his bedside and wipes of the tears and sweat from Cyrus’s face. With his arm still wrapped around her back, he guides her back into lying down on the bed. His other hand find hers underneath the covers.

“I saw them again. Mother, Father, Rielith, Merlot… and Fin…” Adage listens as he starts to rub circles on her back once more. “… They died because of me… It’s my fault they—"

“It’s not your fault. Glissade is to blame for all your suffering. You did nothing wrong, okay.” He cuts her sentence before she could finish. His tone is surprisingly dominant but with hint of worry and assurance. She looks down, avoiding his gaze, and Adage couldn’t tell if his words had reached her or not. He doesn’t probe though. Instead, he pulls her onto his chest and uses his free hand to stroke her hair, a gesture she responds to by squeezing their twined hands. After a few minutes, she finally speaks.

“I’m sorry you’re always doing this for me.” A sentence he didn’t expect to hear. These dreams have been persistent since they took over the Hounds’ infirmary, but not once did Adage feel annoyed or tired to pull her back to reality when her past comes and haunts her. “Don’t be.” He pulls away to look at her in eyes, expressing his sincerity.

“If my love is suffering like this, I’m suffering too. I don’t want you to go through this alone so when you think you’re going through this pain just call on me, okay? I’ll always be here.” When Cyrus hesitates to respond, Adage continues. “Comforting one another when they’re suffering is what married couples do too.” The lightness of his tone and the return of this recurring gag finally brought a small smile on her lips.

She laughs a little, a sign that she’s finally feeling better. “We’re not officially married yet, though.”

“If that’s what you’re worried about then we can do something about that first thing in the morning. Then I can finally have you.” Despite the visible scrunching of his eyebrows and the seriousness of his tone, Adage was smiling. It might be Cyrus’s imagination but she’s seeing something else meant by the way his eyebrows go up and down and that smug smile on his face. “I-It’s fine. I get what you mean now so… “ Cyrus hides her face on his chest in embarrassment, thankful the room was dark enough to hide her probably blushing face.

Adage laughs to before finally releasing a breath of relief. He couldn’t help but hug her even tighter, as if trying to assure her once more that he’s here for her. “I love you, Cyrus.”

A moment passed. “I love you… Adage…” A weak response yet still audible for Adage to hear. He notices her body relaxing in his embrace and her breathing slowly becoming even. He watches her sleeping form, finally at peace for the night, and with one last kiss on the crown of her head, he tucks the both of them under the covers.

She may start getting nightmares again. If not tonight maybe the next or the night after that. But he will be sure to wake her up and assure her that she’s safe, she’s loved, and that she’s not alone.

**Author's Note:**

> finally decided to start putting up my fics in AO3. hopefully this would inspire me to get back on those wips.
> 
> follow me on tumblr @lightspeedrobin


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